Method and means for joining individual wires in two ropes to make a single rope



Nov. 5, 1935, wooD 2,019,520

METHOD AND MEANS FOR JOINING INDIVIDUAL WIRES V IN TWO ROPES TO MAKE A SINGLE ROPE Filed May 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. v

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Nov. 5, 1935. H.-A. .WOOD 2,019,520

METHOD AND MEANS FOR JOINING INDIVIDUAL WIRES IN TWO ROPES TO MAKE A "SINGLE ROP E Filed May 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR.

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Patented Nov. 5, 1935 PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR JOINING INDI- VIDUAL WIRES IN TWO ROPES TO MAKE A SINGLE ROPE Henry Allyn Wood, Berkeley, Calif.

Application May 15, 1934, Serial No. 725,777

9 Claims,

My invention relates to improvements in a method and means for joining individual wires in two individual strands to make a single strand, and to form the united strands into a rope, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

In the past it has been customary to join two ropes by splicing, which consists of unraveling a strand from one rope, and taking a strand from the other rope and winding it into the groove formed by the removed strand in the first rope. The same operation is carried out for the other strands and the result is two ropes which are spliced together.

In the present case the machine is so arranged that the individual strands of the two ropes are untwisted and then the wires in the strands of the two ropes are slightly opened and the individual wires in each strand are joined by welding, brazing, or other suitable means, to the symmetrically placed wire in' the corresponding strand of the other rope, and a means is provided for then retwisting the strands together again,

thus forming a continuous length of rope. I,

' pending application Serial No. 686,473, filed August 23, 1933 entitled Method of and means for altering a steel rope. With this machine I am not only enabled to join two ropes together but I can substitute one or more new parts of a rope for a worn part in either of the ropes being joined.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

4 My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a schematic view of the machine showing one of the ropes carried by the machine;

Figure 2 shows the untwisting die in the machine;

Figure 3 is a section along the line .33 of Fi ur 9 Figure 4 illustrates the joining of two ropes in which an end of each rope is fed into an end of the machine;

Figure 5 illustrates the joining of two ropes and the substitution of a new part for an old one; and

Figure 6 illustrates the joining of the wires in a rope strand. 5

In carrying out my invention I provide a cage indicated generally at I, and this cage has elongated members or rods 2 connected to rings 3 and the entire cage may be revolved by means of a bevel gear 4, which in turn is operatively connected to a driving bevel gear not shown.

Within the cage I mount bobbin-carrying frames 5, and these are preferably supportedalong the axis of the cage so that the bobbins will remain in a horizontal position during the rotation of the cage. Figure 1 illustrates the joining of a rope 6 carried by the frame 5 with a rope I entering through the retwisting die 8.

The rope 6 is mounted on a bobbin 9 that in turn is rotatably carried by the frame or cradle 5. The rope is passed through an untwis'ting die [0 and the strands II are led along the rods 2 of the cage and are slidably secured to the rods by idler pulleys l2. The rope core I3 is led through a centrally disposed sleeve l4, and then is guided over to one of the rods 2 by means of an idler pulley l5.

The rope 1 which is to be joined to the rope 6 is passed through the die 8 and the strands l6 are guided through pulleys l1 and the strands are in alignment with the strands ll of the rope 6. The core l8 of the rope 1 is passed over a guide pulley l9, and this core I8 is inalignment with the core l3 of the rope 6.

The particular manner of joining the strands i I and IE or the cores l3 and I8 together, is shown in Figure 6. In this figure I illustrate the strand H asbeing composed of a number of wires 20,

and I further show the strand l6 as being composed of a number of wires 2|. The place of jolning the strand II with the strand I8 is indicated by the line 22. Certain of the wires 2| in the strand I6 are unwound from their position in the strand, and are severed at a distance from the end 22 of the strand, such as at the line 23. Certain of the corresponding wires 20 of the strand II are threaded into the grooves formed by the removed wires in'the strand l6, and are joined to the wires 2| by welding at the line 23. The same operation is repeated in the strand l I, that is, cer- 60 tain of the wires 20 are untwisted from the strand and are cut off at the line 24, and corresponding -su 7 wires 2| in the strand I6 are threaded into the grooves in the strand l| provided by the removal of certain of the wires 20. In this way the wires 2| extend into the strand H and are joined by welding at 24 to the wires 20. The result is a continuous strand in which all of the wires are welded together. Such an operation is not to be known as the splicing of two strands together, but is to be known as an actual joining of the two strands.

All of the other strands of the rope 6 are connected to the corresponding strands in the rope '1, as indicated at A, and in like manner the core I3 is connected to the core l8, as shown at B. After the joining has been made the cage is revolved on its supporting rollers 25, see Figure 3, and the rope 6 will be fed from the bobbin or spool 9 and will issue from the die 8 as a continuous joined section of the rope 1. After the rope 6 has been entirely fed from the spool 9, and has issued from the die 8, the resulting rope will be the combination of the two ropes 6 and I, and it .will be impossible to note where the joining of the two has actually been effected.

In order not to have the joining of the two ropes take place at one point in the rope, it may be desirable to join two corresponding strands of the two ropes at one point, and then join two other corresponding strands of the same two ropes at a point some distance from the first one. In this way all of the joining of the strands will not be at one point in therope. Figures 1 and 4 illustrate this.

I have described how two ropes can be joined together where one of the ropes is mounted in the machine and upon a bobbin 9; In Figure 4 I illustrate how two ropes may be joined together in which the rope 6 is fed into one end of the machines and the rope I is fed into the opposite end of the machine. not shown and passes through a hollow shaft 25, and then through an untwisting die 21 similar to the die Ill. The rope I in Figure 4 is led through the die-8 and the strands l6 and the core l8 are untwisted and are connected to the strands II, and the core l3 of the rope 6 in the manner already described. The operation of this machine is identical to that shown in Figure 1, the only difl'erence being that the rope 6 is fed from a spool disposed exteriorly of the machine.

In Figure 2 I have shown in section the die 21 and have illustrated how the die is operatively connected to the associate parts. A standard 28 supports the hollow shaft 25 and the rope 6 is fed through the shaft. A sleeve 29 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 26 and carries an end 30 of the cage I. The bevel gear 4 is connected to the end 30 so that a rotation of this gear will rotate the cage.

The die 21 comprises a casing which houses two semi-cylindrical elements 3| and these elements are held against the wire rope 6 by screws 32. Figure 2 also illustrates how the strands ll lead from an opening 33 in the die casing, and are passed around the idlers l 2. The idler pulleys l2 are adjustable on the rods 2 by sleeves 34 which are held in adjusted position by screws 35.

It may be desirable not only to join two ropes together, but to substitute a new part for an old part of one of the ropes. I show the means for doing this in Figure 5, and it will be noted in this figure that the rope 6 is fed in at the entrance end of the machine in the same manner as illustrated in Figure 4. The strands l I are untwisted from the rope and run along parallel with the rods 2 of the cage I. The core l3 passes through the sleeve [4 and then the core is led over to one of the rods 2. The rope I is entered in the exit The rope 6 feeds from a spool end of the machine and is passed through the die 8, and then the strands l6 are untwisted from the rope. Should it be desired to substitute a new core for the core l3, and a new strand for one of the strands II, it is merely necessary to wind the core 13 on a take-up bobbin 36, which in turn is rotatably mounted in a cradle 31. While the core [3 is being wound on the bobbin 36, a new core 38, which has been connected to the core 13,

or core is fed from side to side of the take-up bobbin, and the new strand is fed from the feed bobbin as it is needed. Sufiicient braking force is applied to the feed bobbin to prevent it from over running, and to cause a certain amount of tension to be placed on the new strand or core as it is being fed into the rope. It will be seen from the description of Figure 5 that the rope will be joined to the'rope 6 and at the same time new parts will have beenadded. Any means for pulling the rope through the device may be used, such as a power driven take-up reel 44 shown in Figure 5. I

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, itv should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A device for joining two ropes together comprising a cage rotatable about its axis, means for rotating the cage, a rope untwisting die disposed at one end and receiving one of the ropes, a rope retwisting die disposed at the other end, and receiving the other rope, means for slidably supporting the strands of both ropes along the sides of the cage, the strands in each rope being separated from the other strands in the same rope, but being in alignment with the strands of the other rope, whereby the strands of both ropes may be joined, and means for pulling the joined ropes through the machine.

2. A device for joining two ropes together comprising a cage rotatable about its axis, means for rotating the cage, a rope carrying reel supported by the cage, a rope untwisting die receiving the rope from the reel, a retwisting die receiving a second rope, the strands from the ropes being separated, means for slidably supporting the strands along the sides of the cage so that the strands of one rope will be in alignment with the strands of the other rope, whereby the strands of the two ropes may be joined, and means for pulling the second rope from the machine and with it the first rope, the two ropes being joined and twisted into one continuous whole.

3. A device for joining two ropes together comprising a cage rotatable about its axis, means for rotating the cage, an untwisting die disposed at one end of the cage for receiving a rope and a retwisting die disposed at the other end and receiving a second rope, means for slidably supporting the strands so that the strands of one rope will be in alignment with the strands of the other rope, whereby certain strands may be joined together, means for withdrawing certain parts of the first rope and for substituting similar parts in the completed rope, and means for drawing the second rope from the machine and with it the first rope with the substituted parts for providing one entire rope;

4. A device for joining two ropes with cores comprising a cage rotatable on its axis, means for rotating the cage, an untwisting die carried by the cage and receiving a rope, a retwisting die can'ied by the cage and receiving a second rope, means for separating the strandsot each rope from each other and from the core and for aligning the strands and core of one rope with the corresponding strands and core of the other,

whereby the strands and core may be joined,

and means for withdrawing one of the ropes from the cage and with it the other tone. the other rope being untwisted and retwisted as it passes through the cage, wherebya continuous rope is provided equal to the'two lengths of the original ropes.

5. A device for joining two ropes with cores comprising a cage rotatable on its longitudinal axis, means'for rotating the cage, an untwisting die receiving a rope, a retwisting die receiving a second rope, means for separating the strands of each rope from each other and from the core and for aligning the strands of one rope with the corresponding strands of the other, whereby the strands may be joined, means for withdrawing thecore of the first ropeas it is freed from the rope, means for substituting a new core for the withdrawn one, said new core being joined to the core of the second rope, and means for pulling the'second rope from the cage and with it the other rope and new core, whereby a continuous rope is formed of the two ropes with a substituted core for the portion of the rope formerly constituting the first rope.

6. A device for joining two ropes with cores comprising a cage, means for rotating the cage, an untwisting die for receiving a rope, a retwisting die for receiving a second rope, means for separating the strands of both ropes from each other and from the core and for aligning certain strands and the core of one rope with corresponding strands and the core of the other rope, means for withdrawing one strand from the first rope-and substituting a new strand, and means for pulling the second rope from the cage and with it them-st rope with the substituted strand, whereby a continuous rope is formed of the two ropes with a substituted strand for the portion of rope formerly constituting the first rope. 5

7. The method or joining two ropes which consists in separating the strands 01' each rope,

aligning the strands of one rope with those of the other, unlaying certain wires in each strand of both ropes and winding into the groove pro- 1 vided thereby, the corresponding wire of the aligned strand, whereby all of the strands will be connected to their aligned strands, and finally in progressively unwinding the strands of one of the ropes from the place or joining, and 15 in again winding the strands of the same rope for forming one continuous rope made up from, the two joined ropes.

8. The method or joining two ropes which consists in separating the strands of each rope, 20

aligning the strands of one rope with those of the other, unlaying certain wires in each strand of both ropes and winding into the groove provided thereby, the corresponding wire of the aligned strand welding the abutting ends of the 25 wires together, whereby all of the strands will be connected to their aligned strands, and finally in progressively unwinding the strands of one of the ropes from the place'of joining and in again winding the strands of the same rope for form- 30 mg one continuous rope made up from the two joined ropes.

9. The method 01 joining two ropes which consists in separating the strands of, each rope, aligning the strands of one rope" with those of 5 the other, cutting the aligned strands so that the place of joining of any two of the strands will be removed from the place of joining of all the 7 other pairs of strands, unlaying certain wires in each aligned pair of strands and'winding'into the groove provided thereby the corresponding wire of the aligned strand, welding the abutting ends of the wires after the winding process, and finally in progressively unwinding the strands of one 01' the ropes from the place of joining and in 45 again winding the strands of the same rope for forming one continuous rope made up from the HENRY ALLYN WOOD.

.two joined ropes. 

